Transcript Anthropology 340 LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Anthropology 340
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
Course Overview
Defining Language
What is the dictionary definition?
How useful is the dictionary definition?
How do we tell whether any given form of
communication is language?
Are humans the only ones who use
language?
To what extent do other animals have the
capacity to use all or part of language?
The Biological Foundations
of Language
What do we know about language and
genetics?
What parts of the body and brain are
used to acquire and produce language?
When in the evolution of humanness did
language develop?
Why did language develop in humans?
Descriptive Linguistics
Definition: The study of how
language is structured and
spoken.
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Phonetics - the study of how speech sounds are
formed.
Phonemics – the study of how speech sounds are
combined.
Morphology - the study of how units of meaning
are used to form words.
Syntax – the study of how words are combined to
form sentences.
Semantics – the study of the relationship between
language and meaning.
*Grammar includes morphology and syntax.
Historical Linguistics
The study of how language
changes over time.
• Describing and accounting for observed
changes in particular languages;
• Comparative linguistics - Reconstructing the
pre-history of languages and determine their
relatedness, grouping them into language
families.
• Developing general theories about how and why
language changes.
• Etymology - studying the history of words.
Ethnolinguistics
Definition: The study of the
relationship between language
and culture, and the way
different ethnic and cultural
groups perceive the world.
EG. The Sapir-Whorf Hopothesis: perception (they
way people see the world) is limited by what can be
described in one's own language
Sociolinguistics
Definition: The study of the how
language is used in society.
Every language group uses different
versions of the same language based on:
Social context
Level of education
Age
Social class
Gender
Dialects
Definition: A variant form of the
a language that differs in
systematic ways from the original
language and characterized a
subgroup in a society.
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Regional Dialects
Ethnic Dialects
Social Class Dialects
National Dialects
Developmental Linguistics
The study of how children
acquire language.
Learning vs Acquisition
Developmental stages
Critical periods for language acquisition
The mental skills reflected in acquiring language
Multilingual Societies
Definition: The study of language
in plural societies.
Bilingualism
Language Legislation
Pidgins and Creoles
Linguistic hegemony
Writing
Definition: The graphic
representation of language
using representational or
symbolic inscriptions
Types of graphic language
The history of writing
The diversity of written communication
Non-Verbal
Communication
Paralanguage
Kinesics
Proxemics
Social expectations